Hey guys, so I just got a new eheim canister filter, and I hooked it up to my 50 gallon tank that already has a matured eheim canister filter. How long would it take for the new filter to become fully mature? I'm thinking a month or so, but if anyone has any information on a more solid time line, that'd be great :D Thanks in advance!

fishy goings on

03-31-2012 05:48 AM

Almost impossible to answer! However if you disconnect both filters and move some of the contents of the established one into the new one, then it will be a lot quicker. Even if you simply squeeze some gunk from the established filter into the new one, you'll be transplanting massive quantities of bacteria, thus getting your new filter running "fully" in a matter of days.

willow

03-31-2012 06:12 AM

^^ what fgo said :-D
that's what i've always done when setting up a new tank.

AbbeysDad

03-31-2012 07:44 AM

+2
Also, xfering some media is better than running two high flow filters in the same tank with fish.

excal88

03-31-2012 01:59 PM

Ah, thanks guys! I did cut back on the flow rate by putting a Y-divider on both outputs, so now its a lot less for both filters. I'm in no rush, so I'll just lit it run for a month or so before I can say its ready. Gives me more time to save up for setting up the tank that I had in mind :D